Yes, I speak english. Yes, I’ll be moving to the english speaking motherland. But just because we essentially speak the same language doesn’t mean we’re going to understand each other. Like every culture there is a local slang/lingo and even the same word may have two different meanings.
For example, here in Canada, if I said, “I like your pants” I would be referring to the piece of clothing you wear that covers each of your legs (like jeans). But if I said the same thing in England they will think I am referring to their underwear. Now that would be embarassing!
Here are a couple of other examples:
Are there any others that aren’t listed here that you know of?
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Cheers!
Lisa
Tea and Giggles 
Hello! Your move sounds really exciting, when do you go?
That first infographic is a bit inaccurate….let me try and help you out 🙂
1. I don’t think ‘butty’ is used that frequently! You might say a bacon butty or a chip butty. But sandwich is a normal word in the UK.
2. I would say that a fairy cake and a cupcake are different things – a fairy cake is a lot smaller. A cupcake is bigger with thicker icing (frosting).
3. I’ve never heard of a ‘muffler’!! It’s a scarf!
4. ‘Bugger’ made me laugh! I can imagine someone older saying that.
5. ‘Radge’ is really not that common a word.
A few more are: a gas station is a petrol station, restroom/bathroom is just the toilet/ladies/loo, trunk of a car is the boot….there are so many!!
Hahaha thank you for the updated version! I don’t want to embarass myself and sound like an old bugger 😉
I’m hoping to move in February as long as my visa goes through *fingers-crossed*
I say “bugger”… but then again, I AM older 😉
One more amendment: “peckish” is not quite the same as “hungry”. It’s kinda like “a little hungry”. So: peckish –> hungry –>famished/bloody starving.
Never heard of “radge” and “muffler” either. What?!
Adding to your “butty” explanation, I’d say that for sandwich, “sarnie” is the most commonly used term.
Have you read about snoods? I keep seeing that word on advertisements here…. I think it’s a scarf?
I looked it up – it refers to a tubular scarf that you can pull up over your head and make into a hood. But I think everyone will understand if I just call them all scarves 😉
Snoods are those netty things that Scarlett O’Hara wears over her hair, mostly studded with jewels. Never seen a snood in real life.
Oh yes, and I think in more recent days it refers to a tubular scarf that you can pull up over your head and make into a hood. I think I’ll just continue to call them all scarves though 😉
Yes, unless you were some kind of dedicated fashionista, saying, ‘That’s a really cool snood,’ just sounds weird.
I love that use of the word pants, same as the word drawers, and keep on using them for that meaning even though I’m sure they’re going out of usage.
However a fairy cake is much smaller than a cupcake, probably only found at church fetes and children’s birthday parties now, and the much larger cupcake is more prominent now.
I should point out though that no one calls a scarf a muffler. Are those two the wrong way around? Definitely a scarf in the UK.
And as for “radge”. Not a clue.
p.s. Now I see the commenter above has made very similar comments.
Thanks for your insights! I’ll be sure to check out a church fete for two when I’m in London to try a fairy cake or two 😉
One of my friends was an au pair in Ireland and one morning the littlest girl wouldn’t put on her pants. My friend kept yelling “put on your pants! put on your pants!” and the little girl kept yelling “They’re already on!” I live in Spain, but a lot of the English spoken here is British English so when I go back to the states my friends always look at me weird when I talk about “jumpers,” “trainers” and the “lift.” Last year I made a bunch of Erasmus students from the UK laugh when I told them I wanted to buy a fanny pack for a race. Totally different meaning. These sort of things make the best stories.
LOL! The child must have thought your friend was crazy or wore multiple “pants” at one time. I’m sure there are going to be many Canadian-english phrases I unknowingly use now that will cause some confusion over there. I can’t wait! (Do I dare ask what a fanny pack is in the UK?)
Here you go: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/fanny. And just in case it can keep you from being confused, I’ll also fill you in on the related term of “Fanuary”: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Fanuary
Hahahaha! Oh dear…thank you for the heads-up!
”Do I dare ask what a fanny pack is in the UK”
It’s a bum bag here 😀
Also to Splash Out means to spend money freely (often on something you don’t need). It’s the same as the word ‘splurge’ pretty much. Not quite the same as to spend too much money
As a new-to-London-Kiwi- I’ve encountered some similar miscommunications- though most of the time my workmates just want to make fun of my accent! I still say ‘chips’ instead of ‘crisps’ and totally keep telling people that I’m wearing my ‘fave pants’ today… really gets them raising their eyebrows!
Hahaha… I can’t wait to see what “lost in translation” moments I’m going to have. I’m sure l’ll slip up and compliment someone on their pants, ask where the washroom is and order chips but really want crisps!
Have you seen this? http://www.buzzfeed.com/lukelewis/what-british-people-say-versus-what-they-mean It’s one of the most accurate ‘translators’ of what we Brits mean vs what we say. Good luck! (No, I really do mean that….)
Well, this isn’t bad…. 😉 I have a feeling I’m going to be quite confused for the first few months of living in London. But there’s a good chance that I’ll be confusing the locals as well!
Confused is fine. Essential for learning as an expat, to be honest. Besides, you’re from Canada, so you’ll be super polite about it in the meantime!